Through the World Gate: The Rest of the Story
by FrequencyQueen
Summary: AU This a collection of short's about Harry and Gavin's life, the parts not explained in PHOENIX and DRAGON:Through the World Gate. Hope you enjoy them!


AN – This collection of one-shot's intended to fill in the blanks in Gavin and Gwydion's life, the things that are not fully explained in the original storyline. They are a part of the PHOENIX and DRAGON: Through the World Gate universe and are not intended to be entirely standalone.

_All conversations in italics are Elvish_. _**Those in bold italics are Gobbledegook.

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**Through the World Gate: The Rest of the Story**

**Going Underground**

The tunnel seemed to go on forever, and the torches set every twenty feet or so only illuminated patches of the stone paved floor, leaving the rest dark and mysterious. Side tunnels branched off occasionally, but they all looked the same to the two small boys as they trotted after the goblin leader.

They had been invited to stay with the goblins for several weeks of training, without their guardians…they had just turned seven years old.

"_This is the tunnel leading to the forges_." Ripthroat motioned towards a wide tunnel leading downwards on the left. "_And this one on the right leads to the training grounds_." The boys turned to look, catching a glimpse of a large chamber where a group of small goblins holding short swords were engaged in some sort of drill. "_You'll be joining them tomorrow. From now on, I'd like you to try and speak Gobbledegook at all times._"

What seemed like hours and many miles later, Gavin and Gwydion were finally able to rest for a few minutes before dinner in the community hall. Ripthroat had handed them off to the goblin in charge of the apprentices, instructing him to show them to the curtained alcove they would be sleeping in, one of about a dozen others in the residence chamber assigned to goblins their age. The central part of the chamber was set up as a sort of common area with several low tables set with what looked to be game boards of some sort. Shelves of books were against the walls between the alcoves, and there were large cushions scattered around to sit on.

They both looked around, memories of their first visit to the tunnels flashing through their minds.

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"…_I didn't know that babies were so small," Gwydion whispered as he __smoothed the__blanket on his sleeping pad in the visitor's quarters. Gavin __looked up from where he was emptying his pack onto his pad, sorting __through his things for his hairbrush, and nodded agreement. _

"_I didn't know they cried that loud either," Gavin whispered back with a __grin as he heard their grandfather talking to one of their hosts in the common __area of their visitor quarters. The boys had been allowed to visit a family __residence where the adults lived with the smallest children. Neither boy had __ever seen an elven baby, let alone a goblin baby, so one of the mothers had __allowed them to hold her newborn, which was barely the size of an eight week __old kitten. The volume of its screams made up for its lack of size however, __and they were happy to hand it back to its mother…_

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Gavin sighed, suddenly missing his grandfather. He wasn't four any more, and this wasn't the first time they'd visited the goblins, but this was the first time they'd stayed without their Grandfather or Llygoden. "_The little ones we saw the first time we were here must be big now. I wonder if any of them remember us_?"

Gwydion shrugged. "_Are we really going to learn to fight_?" Gavin looked at his brother in surprise. Gwydion's expression didn't make if clear if he was excited or apprehensive.

"_What's wrong? Are you worried about it_?"

"_I've never held a sword before…what if I'm not any good at it_?" Gwydion admitted. He was generally the bolder of the two of them and the first one to try something new, usually without thinking of the consequences. He didn't usually worry about being good at something or not. Whatever he might lack in skill, he generally made up for with enthusiasm.

"_Grandfather said for us to try to learn whatever they were willing to teach us…I guess he knew about the battle training too_…," Gavin said hesitantly. He wasn't so sure about doing it either, but he was more willing to trust authority figures than his twin. "_We'll just have to do the best we can_."

The evening meal was interesting…the last times they stayed they had eaten at the visitor's table and had foods similar to what they normally ate. This time they ate with their gobling room mates. Who knew there were so many ways to cook mushrooms, and the grubs…well lets just say they were best if you didn't think about what you were eating. Most of the meat they ate was either barely cooked, or had been dried to the consistency of leather and soaked in sauces to soften. The goblin children Gavin and Gwydion sat with showed the boys how to use the sharpened chopstick like utensils, laughing as they dropped things, but it was in good humor. The nearby elders had to ask their table to quiet down several times over the course of the evening, although their antics brought toothy grins to most of the goblins present.

They thought back about the days events as they cleared their minds before going to sleep. It had been an interesting day…Best of all, they had been allowed to visit the forges…

"_**Be careful of the crucible elflings**_," the burly goblin waved the boys back from the glowing chamber as a water driven bellows pumped air into the bottom of it. "_**We've just finished the last charcoal stack, and we'll put the last of the ironsand on next, then in a couple days we'll pull the steel out**_." He lead them over to a large bin full of fist sized chunks of rough metal and handed each a piece. "_**This is it**_…_**Tamahagane, Royal Steel**_. _**Hard to believe it comes from that isn't it**_?" The boys looked where he pointed and saw another goblin bringing in a barrow full of red sand.

"_**Sand**_?" Gavin asked hesitantly. "_**How do you make metal from sand**_?"

The Bladesmith explained the process of layering charcoal and ironsand into the specially prepared melting chamber. As the bellows pumped life through it, the fires would heat the ironsand until it turns liquid and runs down through the chamber. "_**After it cools, apprentice smiths break the mass into these fist sized pieces so it's easier to work with**_." He reached back into the bin and brought out several of the rough pieces of purified ore, showing the boys how no two were exactly alike.

"_**It is as with people younglings, each piece is different, and it is when those differences are brought together to form one unit that we are the strongest. We must be both flexible and rigid**_." He tossed the ore back into the bin and beckoned them to follow him to another chamber where a row of apprentices stood near a smaller forge, pounding hammers onto glowing pieces of ore to flatten them into plates. It was too noisy to hear, so the boys watched wide eyed, their hands covering their ears to muffle the din until he drew them past that group. He led them down a tunnel to where another master smith was layering clay onto a long vaguely sword shaped bar of steel that was wrapped in what looked like paper. He showed them one that was not yet wrapped; the bar was carefully stacked with some of the metal plates the previous goblins were forming. Another goblin was just pulling a similar shape of glowing yellow metal out of a forge, setting it carefully onto a large anvil and working it with light taps of his hammer to force the various layers together. The next chamber had teams of smiths working to bend and fold the metal, forming a blade made up of many layers of steel.

The final process left the boys wide eyed. The Master Bladesmith, a large goblin wearing leather armor to protect him from the incredible heat, stood close to a glowing forge in an otherwise pitch black chamber. He held a finely shaped sword into the fire, watching as it changed from dull-red to blood-red as the steel radiated some of the heat pouring into it. When the entire blade reached a cherry-red, the Bladesmith flipped it edge down and quickly brought the edge to an orange-red while the back remained a darker red. Satisfied with the evenness of the color the Bladesmith suddenly pulled it from the fire and swinging it in a fiery arc through the darkness, plunged the glowing blade deep into a tank of water. The blade wailed and shrieked as it sent off clouds of steam, making the boys shiver in fright.

By the end of the day, the boys had a fair idea of the process used to craft a sword, and they had been allowed to choose the ones they would be training with during their stay. In addition to basic training with weapons, they would be improving their Gobbledegook while learning Goblin history, etiquette, and some magic theory that differed from that taught by the elves, as well as learning some of the lower powered goblin battle magics, basic wards, and useful household spells. If they did well with those studies, Bragnot, the Silversmith who had helped them make the bracelets they had given Ripthroat first time they visited, had promised to teach them more about making jewelry.

"_**Out of bed goblings**_!" The overly cheerful voice of their apprentice master bellowed out, way too early in the morning for the boy's comfort, waking all the apprentices and bringing them tumbling out of their alcoves. It was barely daylight at the start of their first week in the tunnels, not that they could tell since they were so deep underground. "_**Breakfast, and then to work**_! _**This week we'll be working with blades in the morning and you'll have battle magic studies in the afternoon! After that you're all on kitchen duty." **_This announcement was met with moans of dismay, to the brother's confusion.

Hours later, two exhausted elflings collapsed onto pillows in the common area, their moans of pain drawing sympathetic looks and laughter from the young goblins they'd joined for their mornings activities. One took pity on them and brought them mugs of the bitter goblin tea, sweetened with honey, and small vials of a mild pain reliever. "_**You think our Blade Master was tough, wait until you meet the Spell Master**_," he warned them with a smirk. "_**We go to him after lunch**_." Groans of agreement from the others in the common room made the boys pale, wondering what they were going to face next.

The two elflings waited patiently in the high ceiling of the chamber used for practicing magic, watching as the apprentices lined up at one side of the room in several groups of three and four, each group facing down one of a series of long corridors cut out of the side of the chamber. Each corridor was about twelve feet wide and 50 feet deep, with large targets painted on four thin slabs of rock set into wooden frames about half way down the length of the corridor. Three foot thick walls separated each corridor from the next, providing some measure of protection for each group of spell casters. The area of the room furthest from the practice ranges had a loose semi-circle of the large pillows the goblins used for chairs set in front of a large slate board. The Spell Master used this area for explaining the actual theory and mechanics of the spells he was teaching.

"_**PAY ATTENTION**_!" The small elderly goblin smacked one of the apprentices on the back of the head after his low powered blasting spell ricocheted off the wards on the wall half way to the target and nearly hit another of the students in line with him. "_**Kiprak,**_ _**AIM your spells, or I'll send you back to the younger class**_," he threatened grimly as he gestured for everyone to get back in their positions. "_**You've all been warned before - I won't tolerate careless behavior in this class**_."

"_**Yes, Spell Master**_," the miscreant gobling replied, bowing deeply to his teacher in apology. "_**I will do better**_!"

"_**Now for you two**_," the Spellmaster said, standing in front of Gavin and Gwydion with an interested expression on his face after getting the rest of the groups started with the day's assignment. He led them to an unused practice range and pointed toward the four targets. "_**Its been a while since I worked with elflings…show me what you can do. Cast something at the targets down range**_."

The boys looked at each other blankly, not knowing what to cast. "_**The strongest spell you know, I just want to know how much your magic has developed, and how much access you have to it, so I know what group to put you with**_," the Spell Master said as they looked at him uncertainly. "_**Put everything you've got into it**_." Given their hesitant reactions, he wasn't expecting much.

The twins exchanged another look, then Gwydion stepped forward and braced himself, holding his hands in front of him at chest height, cupped as if they were holding a ball. He concentrated and pushed every bit of his magic into casting the spell. "_FFRWYNDRO_!" A globe of dark purple energy, bigger than both his fists together, formed between his hands and almost instantly shot down the range to impact the far left target with a force that nearly knocked some of the nearest apprentices off their feet, showered everyone nearby with chips of rock, and left everyone with ears ringing from the concussion.

When the dust cleared, everyone quickly gathered to look with wide eyes at the crumbled remains of the target Gwydion's exploding spell had hit directly. It was almost totally pulverized, only the bottom quarter remained, looking like the stub of a broken tooth. The frame was broken and nearly torn off on the one to the right of it, and there were large chunks blasted out of the side of the rock slab nearest the target his spell had actually struck. Gwydion winced slightly and made a face as he saw the destruction his spell had made. "_**Sorry**_…."

The Spellmaster looked at Gwydion for a long moment, a calculating expression on his wrinkled face, then patted him on the shoulder and turned to Gavin. "**Your turn now. Try something different than your brother.**"

Everyone moved back to what they hoped was a safe distance as Gavin stepped hesitantly up to the line and braced himself self-consciously. He stood sideways to the targets and raised one hand, aware that the entire class had stopped to watch him. He glanced at his exhausted twin and Gwydion gave him a weary smile of encouragement and motioned to him to continue. Gavin closed his eyes for a moment as he visualized what he wanted, then he opened his eyes and cast, pushing all of his magic into the spell. "_TARANFOLLT_!"

The Spell Master's eyes widened and then he stepped backwards and shielded his eyes as a bolt of blue-white lightning arced from Gavin's outstretched fingertips, striking the cracked target dead on and shattering it into a hundred pieces before leaping sideways to hit the two remaining targets, setting both frames on fire and leaving a zigzag line of scorched rock nearly a hand's width wide across both slabs. Everyone blinked as they tried to rid their eyes of the blue spots the lightning bolt left behind.

"_**Well…**_," the Spellmaster said quietly, his voice clearly heard nonetheless, since all the goblin apprentices were standing silently, wide eyes fixed on the destruction down range. The only other sound was a small rattle as a rock chip settled on one of the destroyed targets. "_**I don't think I'll need to worry about either of you two having enough power to learn the spells**_…."

The twins breezed through the goblin battle magics, learning it at an accelerated rate due to their occlumency skills and their close connection to their cores; Gwydion did especially well and was able to learn some of the more advanced spells taught to older goblings. Then the Spell Master started them on warding…and Gavin excelled, to his brother's dismay as he watched his twin effortlessly casting wards while he struggled.

Gwydion sighed with frustration, erasing the runes he'd drawn on the floor for the third time. "_Gavin, I'm just not getting it_," he whispered, starting to write the rune sequence again. He knew the runes, but when it came time to put them in the correct positions, he went blank for some reason. "_I think I've missed something_…."

Gavin looked over at his brother's work, already finished with his glyph and waiting for the next instruction. Each student had each been assigned a slightly different one, so they couldn't copy. "_I think that one should be Sowilo…and its supposed to be Nauthiz and Teiwaz merkstave there and there_," he said, pointing to the correct positions.

"_I am an idiot! Why can't I get this_!" Gwydion muttered to himself as he corrected his rune layout. "_Well, does this look right now_?" Gavin looked it over and nodded finally, to Gwydion's relief.

"_**Goblings, put your chalk down now. I want you to place the mouse I gave you into your rune circle and activate your wards**_," the Spell Master ordered the class, moving around to check their work as he did so.

Gwydion picked the mouse out of the clay jar each had been given at the start of class and knelt on the floor, carefully setting the mouse in the center of his glyph. He held it under his cupped hand until it settled for a moment, then he jerked his hand off and quickly said the activation command for this ward. "_**Aktivieren**_." He sat back on his heels with a big smile, watching the mouse trying to escape the containment ward, to no avail. Gavin's mouse didn't even make it two steps after he released it before falling soundly asleep.

By the end of the three weeks visit, the twins were fairly good at constructing basic rune wards, such as one would use to protect a box from damage or unauthorized opening, or a small room from intruders, and several that kept food from spoiling. They had the basic rules memorized now and the Spell Master was pleased with their progress.

As a parting gift Gwydion and Gavin gave the Spell Master a simple ring cast in silver using a technique they learned from the Silversmith, carved with goblin runes of protection and enchanted with additional elven protective spells to aide him in case of spell backlash. The Spell Master gave each twin a pendent with protective runes carved on it, made from a black stone found only in the depths of the goblin tunnels…and copies of the spell books covering the next two years of instruction in his classes, with orders to come back in a couple months and let him test their progress.

Slightly less progress had been made with their sword skills. They knew some of the basic practice drills, and had learned which end of the sharp pointy object to point at an opponent and were less likely to cut off their own feet than when they had first began, a minor miracle according to the Blade Master, but they were hardly proficient with a sword. He made it a point of having them take the practice blades they'd been working with home with them, saying that they needed all the practice they could get if they were ever to be adequately skilled.

They made a set of simple arm guards out of tooled leather for the ill-tempered Blade Master in thanks for his…patience, although they had seen little of it. Runes to protect him from cuts and bruises and increase his stamina were drawn on the inside of each of the three layers of leather. They weren't sure he liked it, because he seldom showed any emotion other than irritation, but they thought they saw the slightest twitch of his lips as he examined at his gift, and his glare wasn't quite as harsh as he told them goodbye.

So ends the Gavin and Gwydion's first adventure in the Underground. Stay tuned for their next adventure.

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AN – here's the translation for their spells and other unfamiliar words used in this chapter. 

_ffrwydro_ (explode)

_taranfollt_ (thunderbolt)

merkstave (the rune is reversed from its normal appearance)

[German aktivieren (activate)


End file.
